Achives

REFLECTIONS

Second Chances.

An article by Benia

Of two years ago, I did a part – time work at SMRT. The task was to count the passengers queueing but are not able to board the train.

Counting begins once the MRT door opens. The idea was all who are waiting should be able to board the train, thus, that makes a “zero waiting time”. If the indicator, a passenger waiting at the platform, is unable to board in two consecutive arrivals of trains, an empty train should be sent to the platform! (Yes that’s how ideal they want the system to go! )

The MRT door will be opened for boarding for only 120 seconds.

And during that 120 seconds, this is when actions happened. All passengers would try to catch the ride and not to miss that chance to get boarded. Some literally threw their bodies inside to catch the train while, others, would create movements to let the automated door sense movements thereby delaying closure of the door.

What really striking was that people naturally didn’t want to miss the chance to get boarded.

Same is true even in real life. We don’t want to miss chance but in reality we missed our chances. A chance to tell someone you love him until you find him at funeral parlor cold with his eyes closed. A chance to ask forgiveness to someone whom you have hurt but have finally lost her trust. A chance to be just in time to catch the perfect sunset. A chance to be a great sister to a sick brother. A chance to love. An ocean of misses.

And that’s how the closure of MRT door speaks to me, every single time I count passengers.

The reality of closed doors. The reality that not everyone will make it right the first time.

But if we look at the big picture, the story of getting boarded does not end there! When a passenger missed that chance to board the train at the platform, there is a new train that is planned to arrive in the next four minutes during peak hours of the day and two minutes in between during lunch hours. That passenger who missed the train only has to wait to catch the ride and reach his intended destiny.

In real life, there is a thing that is called as second chances.

The Lord reminds us that He has second chances in store for us by sending His forgiveness to our iniquities and richly giving us a new clean slate. Do we deserve it? I believe we don’t but He loves us beyond our wildest reasoning that He does not want to lose eternity, so, He richly, ever readily willing to forgive us and render us a great new train of chances.

In Him there is an ocean of compassion. In His compassion, there are second chances, chances to change our ways, chances to recover, chances to gain, chances to forgive, chances to move – on and make a fresh start.